Ideas needed for UA inter-university collaborations

Dear UAA Community,

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller

The expedited academic and administrative program review process has produced a great deal of valuable data, as well as significant community engagement and insightful conversation about where UAA is headed in the future. The process was sound and transparent, and I am grateful to you all for your contributions. My conversations with fellow UA chancellors lead me to believe that similarly valuable processes have been undertaken with transparency at UAF and UAS. We all embrace a genuine desire to serve Alaska and it is time that we come together to answer this call.

President Johnsen reached out to the university system’s three chancellors to ask us to identify areas where inter-university collaboration might be achieved. In an April 13 email to the chancellors, the president suggested the following:

“Examples drawn from our own experience and other university systems are many. They include expanding our current level of shared services, implementing a common application, expanding cross campus curriculum planning and instruction, consolidation of duplicative academic units, reducing unnecessary and costly systems, implementing common core GER courses, reducing duplicative and small online course sections and continuing to redesign large enrollment courses.”

These are just examples. We can develop different and unique ideas. The president requests that the chancellors provide suggestions by May 8, 2020.

I am reaching out to the full UAA community for YOUR suggestions. Please note any collaboration should result in cost savings, if not immediately, at least in the mid- to long-term.

Many of you participated in various iterations of similar processes in recent years. I am asking that you draw on the value that was achieved in those conversations to raise the best ideas now for reconsideration. You may also have new, novel ideas for us to explore. I recognize the timing of this request is difficult given all that is going on right now — remote work and alternate course delivery, finals week, the final stages of major leadership searches — but I would appreciate your taking a moment to jot down any ideas you may have.

Please provide your ideas to uaa_feedback@alaska.edu by Friday, May 1, 2020.

Sincerely,
Cathy Sandeen
UAA Chancellor

April Archive